L.A. Opera Goes For Broke Reviving "Ghosts Of Versailles"

Patti Lupone makes an entrance

It is reported that Tony Award-winning Broadway director Darko Tresnjak researched for over a year, including a trip to Petit Trianon, before staging the opera Ghosts of Versailles at L.A. Opera which opens this evening. Sets and costumes are estimated at $1 million, but other expenses would not be discussed including fees for over 80 dancers, singers and acrobatic artists. Even composer, John Corigliano, was flown from New York to Los Angeles for rehearsals because there are so many new notations in the score. Not to mention the luxury casting of Broadway superstar Patti Lupone in the exotic role of Samira that gets 10 minutes of stage time. A planned Met revival five years ago was called off for budgetary reasons. "A good part of the money for Ghosts is coming from a gift from the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. Gordon Getty, one of the sons of billionaire J. Paul Getty, is a composer in his own right as well as an opera fan. His representatives didn't respond to requests for comment. Ghosts has seldom been seen in its full grandeur since it debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in

Patricia Racette and Christopher Maltman

New York in 1991. In that staging, Corigliano called for two orchestras — one in the pit and one onstage — but he later reduced it to a single orchestra and made cuts for a 1995 staging at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The composer also approved a scaled-down chamber version that has been staged at smaller companies. L.A. Opera's production, which opens Feb. 7, features the fullest version of the score that currently exists — not quite as long as the Met premiere but substantially the same work, featuring a full orchestra, according to company leaders." [Source] Tickets for the production are available here. See more beautiful photos after the jump and a complete gallery of 79 photos from the production by clicking here. To learn more about the opera, Ghosts of Versailles, go here.

Commemorate Leontyne Price And Black History Month With New Book

This Tuesday, February 10, will be the 88th birthday of soprano Leontyne Price. What better way to celebrate this legend than with a colorful new illustrated book honoring her life? Although distributed to a suggested age group of 5-9 years old, this book is a treasure for all ages: "A stunning picture-book biography of iconic African American opera star Leontyne Price. Born in a small town in Mississippi in 1927, the daughter of a midwife and a sawmill worker, Leontyne Price might have grown up singing the blues. But Leontyne had big dreams—and plenty to be thankful for—as she surrounded herself with church hymns and hallelujahs, soaked up opera arias on the radio, and watched the great Marian Anderson grace the stage. While racism made it unlikely that a poor black girl from the South would pursue an opera career, Leontyne’s wondrous voice and unconquerable spirit prevailed. Bursting through the door Marian had cracked open, Leontyne was soon recognized and celebrated for her leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera and around the world—most notably as the majestic Ethiopian princess in Aida, the part she felt she was born to sing. From award-winners Carole Boston Weatherford and Raul Colón comes the story of a little girl from Mississippi who became a beloved star—one whose song soared on the breath of her ancestors and paved the way for those who followed." [Source] It is also a wonderful way to commemorate Black History Month which takes place during February in the United States. Purchase the book by clicking here. Read a New York Times feature on the book, see more illustrations, and get information about Black History Month, after the jump.

Pumeza Matshikiza: The Marketing Of African Beauty

Nearly two years ago, Decca announced that it had signed soprano Pumeza Matshikiza to its label. The marketing angle at the time was about a girl that had transcended the poverty of growing up in poor townships in southern Africa to become an opera singer of international stature. Press releases featured the artist in photos next to iron corrugated shacks in plain street clothes with her hair braided in corn rows. Her debut album would feature arias alongside songs

The original cover from March 2014

in the tongue of her native Xhosa. Then the label released the cover art for the new recording, Voice of Hope. At the time, the image seemed more polished than the story that was being told. Nonetheless it was a gorgeous portrait of the artist. A few months ago, the label released a video for the filming of "Thula Baba," one of the tracks off Voice of Hope. The soprano herself proclaims, "I'm trying lots of dresses. Very expensive dresses." Soon the only cover art to be found on the internet was a new glamorous image of Pumeza in a red gown looking like a well-seasoned model. Why the makeover? Other than the original cover not having the recognizable logo of Decca, it is a mystery as to why it changed. But it is not the first time that the British label has done a switcheroo on their artwork. Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli's debut recording in 1989 featured the singer wearing red satin gloves and dangling diamond earrings on the cover. By the 1990's, Decca had photoshopped the image by changing the gloves to black and erasing the earrings down to studs:

"Pumeza was born in a township on South Africa's Eastern Cape in 1979, growing up experiencing extreme crime and poverty. Pumeza studied at the University of Cape Town College of Music under Professor Virginia Davids, then at the Royal College of Music, London with a full three-year scholarship and in the Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where she made her début as a Flower maiden in Parsifal. Winner of the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition in Dublin in 2010, Pumeza later joined the Stuttgart Opera, where she has been part of the full-time ensemble since 2011. Signing with the London-based label Decca in 2013, she recorded her debut album, Pumeza - Voice of Hope, at Abbey Road Studios. She sung one of the Innocents in the 2008 première of Harrison Birtwistle's The Minotaur, and her first major role was that of Mimi at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 in a production by Opera Bohemia. There she was described as 'the real star of the show....who plays the role of Mimi...with a rich, lustrous voice.' She also sang at the wedding of

Pumeza's image when Decca announced her signing.

The new look of the South-African diva.

Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock, accompanied by French guitarist Eric Sempe and percussionist Patrick Mendez. Pumeza performed a rendition of 'Freedom Come-All-Ye' at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which was viewed by one billion people worldwide. The song refers to Nyanga, one of the oldest black townships in Cape Town, which is also one of the places where Pumeza grew up as a child. Speaking about the song afterwards, she said: 'The song [...] is not one I was even aware of until I was given it to rehearse but it is so beautiful. I love what the song stands for – freedom and equality for everyone regardless of race or social standing or nationality.' She released her debut studio album, Voice of Hope in 2014 on Decca Records and containing four classical arias from Puccini and Mozart, in addition to mainly African popular and traditional. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart and Simon Hewett accomoany her for the arias, whereas the Aurora Orchestra and Iain Farrington accompany her for most of the songs, with one song with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in addition to other collaborations notably the African Children's Choir." [Source] To purchase the recording, click here. See the video of the South African star below making her music videos. Also, watch a performance of the soprano singing "Sì, mi chiamano Mimì" from Puccini's La Bohème live in concert, as well as the music videos of "O mio babbino caro" and "Thula Baba" after the jump.

Coming February 5: Virginia Zeani Limited Edition Compact Discs

Soprano Virginia Zeani gives a preview to the new limited edition collection of her beloved recordings which goes on sale February 5, 2015. The set will be available through Norbeck, Peters and Ford. View the box set artwork after the jump.

Pretty Yende Does Splashy Fashion Essay In Essence Magazine

"She's come a long way from the small South African town of Piet Retief, where—after first singing in church and at family sing-alongs—she discovered opera as a teenager in a British Airways commercial featuring 'The Flower Duet' from Léo Delibes's Lakmé. 'I heard the music, and somehow my soul knew what it was, but my mind didn't know,' says Yende, sipping her caffe latte at Manhattan's Empire Hotel. 'The following day I asked my high school teacher what it was, and he told me it's called opera. I said, 'Is it humanly possible?' and he said, 'Of course.' I said, 'Well, you need to teach me that.'' Soon her career goal had switched from accountant to opera star—something she couldn't have imagined before the fall of apartheid in South Africa. 'Black people were not allowed to study opera in schools before,' says Yende, who now embraces being a trailblazer in opera circles. 'I had to learn to accept that it will be something I will carry with me all the time, because I can't change the color of

my skin. Seeing that minority inspired me more, because I love a challenge. I hardly enjoy comfort zones because I must find out what's the best in me.' Yende—whose offstage style is much more comfortable than the corsets she sometimes wears in costume—will have to keep on hitting those high notes. 'I'm booked until 2020,' she says, 'so no babies until then!'" [Source] See more of the glamorous photos by Hao Zeng by clicking here.

Deborah Voigt "Today Show" Appearance Snowed Out. Watch Online!

 Although the media chose to air weather reports about the blizzard Juno that never really happened, Deborah Voigt still appeared on The Today Show to discuss her new book, Call Me Debbie. The video of that appearance is now streamed online. Watch it after the jump.

Deborah Voigt enjoyed music from an early age.

As a little girl, the soprano was spinning around the room to the music of My Fair Lady.

Trapped At Home By Blizzard Juno? Enjoy Catalani's "La Wally"

"La Wally is an opera in four acts by Alfredo Catalani, composed on a libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed at La Scala, Milan, on 20 January 1892. The libretto is based on a hugely successful Heimatroman by Wilhelmine von Hillern (1836–1916), Die Geyer-Wally, Eine Geschichte aus den Tyroler Alpen (literally: "The Vulture-Wally: A Story from the Tyrolean Alps"). The Geyer-Wally is a girl with some heroic attributes. Wally is short for the name Wallburga. (There may have been an actual young woman Wallburga Stromminger on whom the legend is based.) She gets her 'geyer' or 'vulture' epithet from once stealing a vulture's hatchling from her nest. Von Hillern's piece was originally serialized in Deutsche Rundschau, and was reproduced in English in 'A German Peasant Romance,' in The Cornhill Magazine, July 1875. The opera is best known for its aria 'Ebben? Ne andrò lontana' ('Well, then? I'll go far away,' act 1, sung when Wally decides to leave her home forever). American soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez sang this aria in Jean-Jacques Beineix's 1981 movie Diva – a performance at the heart of the thriller. Catalani had composed this aria independently as Chanson Groënlandaise in 1878 and later incorporated it into his opera. The opera features a memorable operatic death in which the heroine throws herself into an avalanche. It is seldom performed, partly because of the difficulty of staging this scene, but Wally's principal aria is still sung frequently." [Source] The synopsis of the opera, a performance of Akiko Nakajima singing Chanson Groënlandaise , and a clip of Wilhelmenia Fernandez singing the famous aria from the film Diva, can all be found after the jump. And if you're interested in visiting Tyrol, consider staying at a luxury resort by clicking here.

Deborah Voigt Launches Cross-Country Book Tour Extravaganza

With the official release of her new autobiography, Deborah Voigt will be making several appearances across the country beginning with The Today Show at 10 AM EST on January 27. From there she will travel to Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco. New York highlights of the tour include an appearance at 86th Street Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side in conversation with Brian Kellow, the features editor for Opera News magazine, on January 28 and a stop at the Metropolitan Opera Gift Shop on February 5 to sign books. For complete information of appearances, click here. Other recent press for the book, Call Me Debbie, has included an article for People Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. After the book tour, the soprano will be seen on the stage in April for performances at the Michigan Opera Theatre as Hanna Glawari in Lehár's The Merry Widow.

Measha Brueggergosman Discovers African Roots In Cameroon

"On Monday, February, 2, 2015 at 10pm ET, VisionTV will celebrate Black History Month with the world premiere broadcast of Songs of Freedom, a new 90-minute film from Rhombus Media’s Barbara Willis Sweete starring the internationally acclaimed Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman. Every Friday in February at 10pm ET, VisionTV will also broadcast the premieres of 30-minute Songs of Freedom episodes featuring additional footage from Measha’s performances. In Songs of Freedom, Measha performs for the first time, an intensely powerful and spiritual collection of 18 ‘Freedom Songs’, like 'Amazing Grace,' 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot,' 'Go Tell it on the Mountain,' and 'Go Down Moses,' that emerged from Africa via the slave trade to America, then to Canada via the United Empire Loyalist migration and the Underground Railroad. As Measha explores the role music played throughout these turbulent chapters in North American history, she also discovers her roots and embarks on a life-changing

Brueggergosman in Cameroon

odyssey to meet her ancestors in Cameroon, Africa. There, Measha learns about her tribal heritage, is initiated into their traditions, and uncovers the story of her family’s harrowing journey from Africa to slavery in America, and ultimately to freedom in Maritime Canada, where she and her family live today....Online, VisionTV will support the broadcast with a media rich easy-to-navigate website and mobile interactive songbook application for iPad and iPhone. Both the website www.SongsOfFreedom.ca (coming soon) and the Songs of Freedom App are centered around Measha’s full-length performances of 10 Freedom Songs as seen in the feature film and series. Articles, photos, and archival documents will give further context to the songs and a sing-along feature that generates synchronized lyrics of Measha’s performance will invite the online audience to share in their power. Exclusively for online viewing, four music performances have been recorded live on location in Cameroon, Nova Scotia and Ontario, using a 360° spherical camera. This user-controlled technology allows the audience to watch Measha’s performance from every point of view as if they were actually there standing beside her. The app will be available on iTunes (Search: Songs of Freedom)." [Source] Read more about the program by clicking here.

Measha in Cameroon with Bassa tribe elder

You've Got To Know When To Hold 'Em: MET Playing Cards

Purchase the playing cards here.

"Kevin Rawlings has been a professional make-up artist and photographer for nearly three decades. Combining these skills with his knowledge and love of opera, Mr. Rawlings has created a collection of operatic images like no other in 'Stars of the Opera.' The product is composed of a double-deck of 'face-cards' featuring 108 famous opera singers from around the world. This one of a kind, High Quality set of cards was printed by USPlaying Card Co. on bicycle card stock and air cushion platic coating. Surprise your opera loving friends with these Special Edition playing cards! Included in the Deck: Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, James Morris, Dolora Zajick, Ben Heppner, Rene Pape and many, many more!!!" [Source] Find out more information by clicking here.

Teatro Di San Carlo Gets Low Ranking For Government Support

"E il San Carlo finisce quasi in coda alla classifica degli enti lirici. Il massimo dei punti è 150 e li ottiene solo la Scala di Milano. Secondo è il Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, con 136. Sopra quota 100 c’è anche il Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, con 108. Il voto del San Carlo è un ben più misero 27, il Petruzzelli lo supera con 34, mentre due prestigiosi enti, come La Fenice di Venezia e il Regio di Torino prendono ancora di meno, rispettivamente 10 e 18." [Source] More about the Teatro di San Carlo after the jump.

Thomas Hampson Bestowed With Honorary Doctorate

Hampson receiving honor in Boston 
(Photo: Andrew Hurlbut)

"Baritone Thomas Hampson, recently honored as a Metropolitan Opera Guild 'Met Mastersinger,' will receive an honorary Doctor of Music degree from New England Conservatory,in a ceremony presided over by President Tony Woodcock that takes place during a masterclass Hampson will lead for voice and opera students at 2 pm in NEC’s Brown Hall. The event marks Hampson’s second visit to NEC, the baritone having previously directed a Richard P. and Claire W. Morse Masterclass in April 2013." The event took place on January 18, 2015. "Born in Elkhart, Indiana, Hampson grew up in Spokane, Washington, where he enrolled at Eastern Washington State College (now Eastern Washington University) in Cheney, majoring in political science/government. Concurrently, Hampson earned a BFA in Voice Performance at Fort Wright College under the tutelage of Sister Marietta Coyle. During the summers of 1978 and 1979, he studied under Gwendolyn Koldowsky and Martial Singher at the Music Academy of the West, where he won the Lotte Lehmann Award. He then continued his studies at the University of Southern California, where he worked with vocal coach Jack Metz and the baritone Horst Gunther, a lifelong mentor. In 1980, as a consequence of winning the San Francisco Opera audition, he completed in the Merola Opera Program, in which he met Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. In 1981, he was one of the winners in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions national finals." [Source, Source]

What's In A Name: Rosamund Pike Photographed By Mario Testino

A Rose by Any Other Name: Rosamund Pike in Vanity Fair

"The name Rosamund (also spelled Rosamond and Rosamunde) is a girls' name and can also be a family name (surname). Originally it combined the Germanic elements hros, meaning horse, and mund, meaning 'protection.' Later, it was influenced by the Latin phrases rosa munda, meaning 'pure rose,' and rosa mundi, meaning 'rose of the world.' 'Rosamonda' is the Italian, 'Rosamunde' is the German and 'Rosemonde' the French form of the name. People named Rosamund or variations thereof include: Rosamund (Gepid) or Rosamunde (fl. sixth century), second wife of Alboin, King of the Germanic Lombards; Rosamund Clifford (before 1150 – c. 1176), medieval beauty and longtime mistress of King Henry II; Rosamund Greenwood (1907–1997), British actress; Rosamund John (1913–1998), English actress; Rosamund Kwan (born 1962), Chinese actress; Rosamund Pike (born 1979), British actress; Rosamunde Pilcher (born 1924), British novelist; Rosamund Stanhope (1919–2005), British poet and teacher; Rosamund Marriott Watson (1860–1911), English poet and critic who wrote under the pseudonym of Graham R. Tomson. Franz Schubert also wrote incidental music

scored for orchestra under the Rosamunde heading. "There are two overtures associated with Rosamunde: The overture used for the stage production was the overture Schubert had originally composed for Alfonso und Estrella, but Schubert thought it less suitable for that opera and in the 1891 publication of the Gesammtausgabe, the ten numbers of the Rosamunde music were preceded by the overture to Die Zauberharfe (The Magic Harp), without any proof it was ever Schubert's intention to associate that overture with the rest of the Rosamunde music" The first vocal version, "Der Vollmond Strahlt auf Bergeshöh'n" was published in 1824 as Op. 26, with piano accompaniment. The one vocal version for mixed chorus and orchestra, dated 1863, is written "Andante con moto." Other forms of the incidental music include an entr'acte, ballet, and choruses. Additional uses of the music include an excerpt of the piece incorporated into the Christmas carol "Mille cherubini in coro," a song made popular by Luciano Pavarotti in a 1980 TV Christmas program. The piece is also played in Marvel's film The Avengers in the German opera house scene. [Source, Source] Watch a Vanity Fair video of Rosamund Pike being photographed by Mario Testino, and listen to Elly Ameling singing the vocal version of Schubert's music, after the jump.

Reclining Rosamund: A scene that could easily be taken straight out of a Schubertiade.

Remembering Opera Singers Present For March On Washington 1963

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day today, which celebrates the birthday of the great civil rights leader, we bring you two performances from the Civil Rights March on Washington that took place at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. This was the occasion for Dr. King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech:

Camilla Williams sings the National Anthem in Washington, D.C., 1963

Marian Anderson sings "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" in Washington, D.C., 1963

Palm Beach Opera Rewarded For Vital Contributions To Arts

Hot Ticket: Next up for Palm Beach Opera is a recital by Ildar Abdrazakov, titled "Seduction of the Senses," on February 5, 2015. More details and tickets can be found here. (Photo: Julia Borodina)

"Palm Beach Opera, under the general direction of Daniel Biaggi, will receive the Classical South Florida Ziff Award at a luncheon Jan. 30 at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. CSF honors organizations that make vital contributions to the arts. The award is sponsored by Dr. Sanford L. Ziff, founder of Sunglass Hut of America, and his wife Beatrice, who donated $1 million in 2007 to help found Classical South Florida 90.7. The nonprofit public radio organization is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale." [Source ] Read a review of the company's most recent performance of La Bohème by clicking here.

"Sophie's Choice" Uses Johann Strauss Jr. For Big Dance Scene

Sophie (Meryl Streep) and Nathan (Kevin Kline) are having an evening of Southern decadence when the scene climaxes with the two characters dancing romantically to "Frühlingsstimmen" of Johann Strauss II. "'Frühlingsstimmen' ('Voices of Spring'), Op. 410, is a waltz by Johann Strauss II, written in 1882, for orchestra and solo soprano voice. Strauss dedicated the work to the pianist and composer Alfred Grünfeld. The famous coloratura soprano Bertha Schwarz (stage name Bianca Bianchi) sang this concert aria at a grand matinée charity performance at the Theater an der Wien in aid of the 'Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth Foundation for Indigent Austro-Hungarian subjects in Leipzig.' The waltz was not a great success at its premiere, but was more successful when performed on Strauss' tour of Russia in 1886. A piano arrangement by the composer contributed much to its success beyond Vienna. Bianca Bianchi was then a famous member of the Vienna Court Opera Theatre and Strauss was sufficiently inspired to compose a new work, a waltz for solo voice, for the acclaimed singer. The result was his world-renowned "Frühlingsstimmen" waltz which celebrated spring and remained one of the classical repertoire's most famous waltzes. The piece is sometimes used as an insertion aria in the act 2 ball scene of Strauss' operetta Die Fledermaus. The waltz makes a grand entry in the key of B-flat major with loud chords preceded with the waltz's three beats to the bar ushering the first waltz's gentle and swirling melody. The second waltz section invokes the joys of spring with the flute imitating birdsong and a pastoral scene. The plaintive and dramatic third section in F minor probably suggests spring showers whereas the fourth section that follows breaks out from the pensive mood with another cheerful melody in A-flat major. Without a coda, the familiar first waltz melody makes a grand entrance before its breathless finish, strong chords and the usual timpani drumroll and warm brass flourish. A performance lasts between seven and nine minutes." [Source] Watch Carlos Kleiber conduct an orchestral and Kathleen Battle sing a vocal version of "Frühlingsstimmen," as well as more information on Sophie's Choice, after the jump.